From our Principal

St Roch’s School theme 2025:

Dear Families,

Welcome to Issue 6 of our iNewsletter! We hope this newsletter continues to keep you up to date with all the news, events and learning that happens at St Roch's.

A fortnight ago we prayed for the eternal rest of Pope Francis and today we pray for Pope Leo XIV who was elected our new Pope.

Pope Leo XIV’s first address was one of unity, missionary zeal and humble service. Speaking to the faithful gathered in Rome and watching across the globe, he called for renewed solidarity and spiritual courage. ‘We are disciples of Christ. Christ goes before us,’ he said. ‘The world needs His light. Humanity needs Him as the bridge to be reached by God and his love.’

Thursday's MACS Principals Forum brought school leaders together with a shared commitment: to shape schools that are student-centred, faith-filled, and focused on helping every learner flourish. Grounded in the vision of MACS 2030, the forum was a moment to connect, reflect and look ahead—strengthening our collective dedication to Catholic education and the communities we serve. It was a productive day and we look forward to sharing much of this work in coming weeks.

Congratulations to Rachel Gray who recently completed further students in Literacy and is now accredited to teach students with dyslexia. We are priveleged to have both Rachel Gray and Toni Allen trained and accredited in Multi-sensory Structured Language. This training provides exceptional skills in the explicit teaching of literacy through a multi-sensory approach, catering for the various needs and the mulliple intelligences of our students.

As a school we value building our capacity in education and our staff are continually supported to attend professional development to further their own expertise. Amber Mangan and Laura Dioguardi attended 'Talk for Writing' last week and have already implemented much of this learning. All of our staff in the Junior school have now completed 'Talk for Writing' Professional Development.  Louise Bolton, Toni Allen and Teresa Hogan are currently undertaking a masterclass in Explicit Instruction that will continue to enhance our students' learning outcomes throughout the middle and senior school.

Our Leadership Team attend combined network sessions on a regular basis to continue their love of learning and professional development. Thank you to all St Roch's staff for embracing eduation to support and extend our students.

Celebrating Mothers!

Mother's Day Luncheon

We are grateful for our mothers and mother figures and how wonderful it was for our mums to get together on Saturday 3 May. Thank you Jess Mount for organising this great event.

Mother's Day Stall

The Mother's Day Stall was such a success on Wednesday 7 May. We thank Nat Sadler and Jacci Bristow for organising this event with support from their team.

Mother's Day Breakfast

The Mother's Day Breakfast was an absolute delight on Thursday 8 May. The morning began with photo opportunities with your child/chidren with Sam Connellan as the photographer of the day. Mums then enjoyed visiting the classrooms at 8.30am to enjoy some time with their children.

We reconvened in the hall for a wonderful breakfast organised by Bree Lynch and Bec Kirkwood, their Year 2 team and Bec's mum who supported the styling of the event!! 

A special surprise from our Year Preps occured during breakfast. How lovely it was to listen to our Preps sing with such love! Congratulations Alex Granland and Year Prep!

Happy Mother's Day to all the special mums and mother figures in our community!

Open Tours

Showcasing our school is a wonderful way to share what happens at St Roch's with our Year 6 Leaders. We always love having current parents at our Open Tours as well. Please let us know if you are interested in supporting these tours. For those parents with siblings beginning Prep in 2026, please come along to one of the next tours with your child. We are currently taking enrolments for 2026 and 2027. 

Real Estate Boards

As we prepare a new flyer for our boards, we would love families to display a board on their front fence for a period of time that can be negotiated. We have currently have three on display with three further families who have expressed an interest. We would like to increase our presence in the local area and welcome any families that may be able to support a display board. Please email office@srgleniris.catholic.edu.au and/or myself if you are interested.

Magnifico Melbourne

We look forward to showcasing your children at the amazing Production 'Magnifico Melbourne' on Tuesday 3 June starting at 6.30pm. Please purchase your tickets through Trybooking. An email has been sent with the details.

Year 5 & 6 Camp to Canberra

We are excited to be going to Canberra today. The Year 5 & 6 students are looking forward to a week of learning, adventure and fun in Canberra. We are currently on the bus to Canberra. We value this opportunity which is a highlight of our Leadership Program in Years 5 and 6. Our students gain so much from the incredible itinerary - thank you Nadine! This includes a stop in Euroa (Ned Kelly country), Hollbrook and Gundagai as well as the National Museum, the National Art Gallery, Questacon, Australian Institute of Sport, the War Memorial and Old and New Parliament House, to name a few!! Our students will be immersed in learning about the Australian Elections and our Voting system (how opportune), the Australian Parliament and the History of Australia.

Thank you to all of our staff who will be holding the fort at St Roch's while Nadine Bolton, Louise Bolton, Toni Allen, Max Pinchbeck and Father Gallacher join me on this wonderful trip. Matthew Crowe, Rachel Gray and Alex Keisler are your point of contact this week. Contact Nicolle or Mia at the office for any other queries.

Warmest regards,

Angie Mastoras 

Principal

St Roch’s Parish Primary School

Glenvale Road, Glen Iris 3146

Telephone: 9885 7704

Email: principal@srgleniris.catholic.edu.au

Website: www.srgleniris.catholic.edu.au